Some stories are creepy, some are hillarious but all are reallly fun to read! Keep posting.

Back in 2004, I went to the Okanagan valley in BC, Canada. I set up my tent in a small campground of a small town. It was early in the season, about 10% of the campsites were occupied. As I was setting up my camp the "neighbour" came to me to say hi and have chat. Nice, sympatic guy, talking exactly like Chong (from Cheech and Chong obviously) but looking f....ng trashy, like out of the garbage.
This guy look a lot better

Later that night at about 10 pm I was slowly falling asleep when the same guy came to my campsite and ask me through the the tent : "Hey man I need your help maaaaaaan"
Me: "wo, what's going on, what do you want?"
Strange guy: "Well, do you have a lighter, cuz mine's is dead and I really need one."
Maybe I should have told I didn't have one, but no.
I my mind I was saying: If I give U the lighter, youre better leave me the f... alone, I don't know you and I wanna sleep.

So, thinking it was the fastest and easy way to get rid of the weirdo I unzip the tent and gave him the dam lighter. His big smile was saying : I'm the happiest guy in the world. And then he said : " I warm this thing up, I take the first hit and then it's on to you"
Me: "eeeeeeee no thanks, good night" Ziiiiiiiip the tent.

The weirdo was smoking crack!

Despite that encounter, I had a very good night, and the best of all, the next morning, the lighter was on the table outside my tent!

I don't have a camping story, but a number of years ago in southern central Illinois in the area near my farm there were common bobcats and another more rare cat that was black and muscular looking with a long tail, the locals called them panthers. The authorities deny their existence, but I saw them along with a number of other people. Any way I grew up in town but began to hear all these stories about people being paced by these cats when they walked through the woods at night. So late in the afternoon I was working outside on the house and my wife left to run quickly into town. Out there alone I suddenly heard this cat scream like a woman being mugged. It was so close it made the hair on my arm stand up. When my wife came back I was working on a different project inside the house and when asked why I wasn't outside I had to sheepishly explain why. I know a fox can make a sound similar to that, but that night I just knew It was a large wild cat.

I don't have a camping story, but a number of years ago in southern central Illinois in the area near my farm there were common bobcats and another more rare cat that was black and muscular looking with a long tail, the locals called them panthers. The authorities deny their existence, but I saw them along with a number of other people. Any way I grew up in town but began to hear all these stories about people being paced by these cats when they walked through the woods at night. So late in the afternoon I was working outside on the house and my wife left to run quickly into town. Out there alone I suddenly heard this cat scream like a woman being mugged. It was so close it made the hair on my arm stand up. When my wife came back I was working on a different project inside the house and when asked why I wasn't outside I had to sheepishly explain why. I know a fox can make a sound similar to that, but that night I just knew It was a large wild cat.

I have heard the scream of a mountain lion (Puma, wildcat, whatchacallit) too, and it is the most terrifying sound I ever heard! It gave me chills, and I heard it from a ways away and I was inside my house! I've heard it described as sounding like a "scream from a woman"; more like a scream from an alien!

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Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? George Carlin

Not creepy, but enough to get the adrenaline going. Five days ago, I camped in Bruneau Dunes State Park in Idaho. I arrived an hour before sunset, so I rode on down to the dunes to do a little sunset and twilight photography and see what I could see. When I'd had my fill, I motored the mile back up to the campsight, which was rapidly getting dark. Later, some asshats with a bass boat on a trailer decided to set up two spots over with a helluva lot of noise and stupidity while I was trying to sleep, but until then, the place was utterly deserted. Not even the host was around.

After stringing up my hammock in the last of the light, I figured I'd hike up to the entrance area and drop off my envelope of cash in the honor box. I'd heard coyotes calling to each other as I was setting up, but once it got fully dark, I realized that there were a LOT of coyotes out there, and they were in all directions. I hiked about a hundred yards before I realized the yelping was getting closer, I was really stupid, and the cash could wait for the safety of sunlight!

I turned in and listened to the coyotes and owls and other typical night sounds, as well as the tards in the next site over. At some point in the night, I awoke to the feeling of something being "not right." The calls and yelps had stopped! Ruh roh... I was slightly groggy when something ran under the hammock and hit the line staking down the fly. There was a bit of a growl and a good "thud" when the coyote--driven off course by the impact--ran full-on into the pannier of my bike. I'll admit, I just about pissed myself as I was suddenly wide awake, swinging around like a moron-pinata waiting to get a bite taken out of it. I elected to hunch down in my fartsack and make believe that all would be right if I simply closed my eyes tight enough, though I'll admit that I entertained notions of running to the neighbor's bass boat and setting up in that sucker!

About 20 years ago we were at our fishing camp-which is an old logging camp- at the the mouth of the Phillips river here in B.C.

2 friends and I decided to row across the river to check out the Indian midden that was somewhere on the other side.

Tom and I walked up the rough trail away from the river, while Dave lagged behind, maybe taking a piss or something.
We went about 100 ft or so up the trail and stopped to wait.

I turned around and nearly had a heart attack as I saw a grizzly standing watching at us- maybe 40 ft away. We had walked about 20 ft in front of it as we walked up the trail.

Tom and I were nearly shitting ourselves, all we had for protection was the road flare I had in my pocket. Suddenly Dave called from down the trail asking where we were. We yelled Stop! Bear! He yelled What? Beaaar!!

The bears head swung to listen to Dave then back to us, then he turned and walked away back from the direction he had come.

We scooted back to our boat ecstatic at surviving this sure death experience.

That was the freaky part, but this is the cool part- when we were safely in the boat we rowed along the river and watch the bear lumbering along the shore. After a few minutes I saw something white down stream, heading along the river toward the bear.

As it got closer I could see it was a dog- no, it was a wolf, a white wolf.

Holy shit! Wait until this bear sees the wolf, there's going to be a fight or something, I was thinking. I got my camera ready to record this National Geographic moment.

The bear would walk along the shore, stop and turn and face us, then walk some more. The wolf got closer until it walked right in front of the bear, stopped and walked back in front of it again, stopped and looked back as if to say " are you coming?" The bear and the wolf walked off together and up a trail and were gone.

We couldn't believe what we saw. I took some pics with my 35 mm, but with the lens I had -and with me not being a National,Geographic caliber photographer- the resulting images were tiny and not very impressive.

I told some old timers about this when we got home, and was told that sometimes an old bear will hang out with an old wolf that can't keep up with his pack, and they will scavenge together. Sounds good to me.

But during basic training at Fort Sill, we were on a 3 day FTX. This is the end of September, and a cold front had come through. It's in the 'teens at night, with strong wind. Drill Sergeant said we'd all get Article 15's if anybody brought a single piece of cold weather gear. So we're sleeping in summer PT's, in summer sleeping bags, in a tent with giant holes on the corners letting in a LOT of cold air.

All through the night we have to have 2 guards posted at each tent. One at the entrance, one roaming. I'm on duty for the 0200-0300 shift. I'm absolutely freezing, and volunteered to do roaming duties for the full hour just so I could keep moving. As we came on duty, the outgoing guards told us there's been a lot of howling in the distance. Sure enough, you can hear coyotes way outside the camp. Throughout the night, the howling is getting louder and louder. About half way through our shift, I'm coming back around to the front of the tent. There's an incredibly loud howl that echos through the camp. All the guards at all the other tents are staring towards me. I slowly turn around, just in time to see a coyote trot out from between my tent and the one next to it -- right where I had just come from. It goes towards the center of the camp, and lets out another howl. A few more coyotes respond back -- and they're close. Next thing we know, we've got 4 coyotes walking straight through the middle of the camp.

.... I was slightly groggy when something ran under the hammock and hit the line staking down the fly. There was a bit of a growl and a good "thud" when the coyote--driven off course by the impact--ran full-on into the pannier of my bike. I'll admit, I just about pissed myself as I was suddenly wide awake, swinging around like a moron-pinata waiting to get a bite taken out of it. I elected to hunch down in my fartsack and make believe that all would be right if I simply closed my eyes tight enough, though I'll admit that I entertained notions of running to the neighbor's bass boat and setting up in that sucker!

That's some funny shit right there...

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2007 BMW 650 XChallenge..
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"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us." Robert Louis Stevenson

A buddy and I took a 3-day trip around southern New Mexico camping along the way. On the second night we stayed near the Gila Cliff dwellings at a lake with nice developed camp sites. We pulled in with little light left in the day, lucked out to find a camp spot with a large gathering of wood already waiting to be burned...SCORE!!! There was no one there and no one for miles, it was extremely secluded and eerily quiet. The lake was in a small valley between two medium sized mountain sides.

We set up tents, drank beer, and cooked some food. We had a roaring fire going with absolutely no light other than that. You could see the stars and what was the ridgeline of the surrounding mountains. At about 9PM I hear what sounds like a deep hum and I can literally feel the vibration. I can tell it's coming from the east, so I interrupt my buddy Isaac to ask if he hears that... he asks what, I say "Listen" and point to the east where the mountain met the skyline...

Nothing happens for about 30 seconds but the hum is definitely getting more pronounced and about 1 minute after hearing the initial hum I see a strange set of geometrical arranged lights appear over the ridgeline, one large set and farther away in a lateral line was a smaller set of said lights.

I'm literally petrified at the sight of this moving object, it slowly approaches directly over us and slows down. I instinctively grab my peace keeper and load a round thinking "I'm not getting abducted tonight!!!".

The object continues slowly a little further over the other ridgeline behind us and disappears. We can still hear the hum though. About 15 seconds after that it returned over us and took off the same way it came. We must have looked like a HUGE welcome light with the roaring fire.

I look at my buddy Isaac and we both eagerly say, I'm going to my tent to bed! Right! Both of us get into our own tents about 15ft away from each other.

I don't but get into my tent and zip up the door and I hear what sounds like something knocks over our gear on the picnic table right in front of our tents!! I'm like FUCK, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?! Thinking Isaac heard it too, no response, I grab my flash light and point out a small unzipped hole and point in all directions. I can't see anything knocked down. I yell to Isaac "Dude! Did you just hear THAT?!?.....NO response from Isaac. I yell again, ISAAC!! No response....

At this point I'm thinking this is a full-on abduction waiting to happen and held my loaded 40cal like it was glued to my palm. I placed the XD right next to my sleeping bag, I think I slept a total of two winks.

The next morning I wake up and get out of my tent to see Isaac getting ready... I ask him WTF happened last night... He replies "I dont know, I put my head phones in and jammed out till I crashed out"

Weird ass night!!

After speaking to others about it, most people feel we were monitored by a drone from a nearby air force.

As a former wildlife biologist... I think this would be an amazing experience. But, that's also because I know enough about coyotes to know that the likelihood that they would attack me, even en masse as a whole pack, is so unlikely that it borders on ridiculous.

Not a creepy night but certainly entertaining, especially for the wife.

We were returning home from a round trip ride from Iowa to Alaska. Were camped at a private campground in SE Montana near the Custer's Last Stand area. Campground was essentially empty except for three Harley riders two spots over. They were just arriving as we were heading back into town for dinner. Only a wave to them was our total visual interaction.

When we returned to the campground, they had their tents set up and had apparently left for dinner similar to us. About 10:30, they returned and easily had us both awake with their louder but not annoying bikes and voices. Their time in town obviously included a few drinks with supper.

They must have assumed my wife and I were two guys because they relieved themselves quite loudly in unison on the packed gravel driveway. This included the usual farts, beer belches (sp?), and audible gasps of bladder relief. My wife had to cover her face with her sleeping bag so they wouldn't hear her laughing.

They got a fire started with the help of some carried gasoline and proceeded to pop a few more cold ones. They were probably 35 feet away but it sounded like they were just outside our tent. Conversations around the fire were a real education with no thought that we were wide awake and listening.

We learned, in no particular order, about the pros and cons of getting a vasectomy, "tagging" the boss's daughter, the cost of alimony and child support, a new acquired mistress, borrowing gas from the work truck for the bike, worrying about being an alcoholic, getting Harley "extras" on-the-cheap, etc. Needless to say, my wife and I had plenty to converse about at breakfast the next day.

We were long gone in the morning before there was any movement from their tents. We tried to be quiet so our entertainment for the night could get a little sleep.

I have camped since I was 6 weeks old so I have heard many bumps in the might but nothing overly creepy. So I will submit this.

Julie Bowers of Kincardine, Ont., was acquitted of murdering her 11-month-old son, Dustin, by leaving him in a snowy wooded area in 1988. Ms. Bowers at first reported that Dustin had been kidnapped from her car but she later led police to the boy’s body, saying she had a dream that showed where he was. The defence argued that Ms. Bowers’s two brothers had organized a conspiracy to kidnap Dustin. After they acquitted her, jurors wished Ms. Bowers well. The case split Kincardine, but after the trial Ms. Bowers and her husband, John, moved to Hanmer, Ont., a mining town north of Sudbury, to run a gas bar.

She was my baby sitter a few years earlier and my mom always thought she was a little "off"! Thanks MOM!!

As a former wildlife biologist... I think this would be an amazing experience. But, that's also because I know enough about coyotes to know that the likelihood that they would attack me, even en masse as a whole pack, is so unlikely that it borders on ridiculous.

Sidebar: are you a redleg too?

Haven't heard the term "redleg" before... Urban dictionary says it's to do with Artillary though. Nah, I'm in Intel. We had a bunch of artillery guys, as well as a lot of medics at our basic though.

Knowing very little about coyotes, we were all extremely terrified.

Now for another "weird animal" one... Right now I'm visiting my parents. They're living in a travel trailer while the cabin gets an addition, so it's sort of like camping. The other day, there was some LOUD bird chirping going on outside. I poke my head outside. Every single limb of every single tree around us is completely coverd in birds. All of them staring down at the trailer, making noise. Outside of our little corner, there weren't any birds. I go back inside. A few minutes later, the windows go a little dark, and you can hear the noise of thousands of flapping wings. Once it goes light again, I poke my head out. Not a single bird in site, or any bird chirping can be heard.

what sounds like a deep hum and I can literally feel the vibration. I can tell it's coming from the east, so I interrupt my buddy Isaac to ask if he hears that... he asks what, I say "Listen" and point to the east where the mountain met the skyline...

Nothing happens for about 30 seconds but the hum is definitely getting more pronounced and about 1 minute after hearing the initial hum I see a strange set of geometrical arranged lights appear over the ridgeline, one large set and farther away in a lateral line was a smaller set of said lights.

In daylight I've watched a helicopter flying in the mountains. I'd guess range of about 5 miles. There was no rotor or jet engine noise - just the hum of his gearbox could be heard at that range.

Haven't heard the term "redleg" before... Urban dictionary says it's to do with Artillary though. Nah, I'm in Intel. We had a bunch of artillery guys, as well as a lot of medics at our basic though.

Knowing very little about coyotes, we were all extremely terrified.

Yeah, Artillery. You mentioned Fort Sill, so I figured you might have been there for Basic so you could stay for AIT.

I went through Basic at Fort Benning... and OCS immediately afterward. And, you weren't the only recruit that was terrfied of nature. Seeing the inner-city tough guys tremble was HILARIOUS.

The closest encounter I've had was with a bull moose. I'd just crawled out of my tent to relieve myself as I watched the sunrise over the Snake River with the Grand Tetons at my back. I had an eerie feeling and glanced over my shoulder... and there he was, an enormous 6-foot tall bull with a colossal rack. And me, completely alone, frozen in shock ten yards away, literally with my di¢k in my hand.I knew enough about moose to just let him be. They can easily be startled and if he'd gone on the defensive, I didn't stand a chance. When he finally sauntered off, I scrambled back to my tent to grab my camera, but he'd already crossed the creek behind camp and disappeared into the vegetation before I could snap a shot.

My story isn't creepy, but somewhat scary involving wildlife, but not to the same tune as cougars or bears. In my late teens, my parents convinced me to go to one final summer camp, more adventurous than the typical offerings, this one would include a stint of backpacking along the Appalachian Trail.

We hiked several miles along the trail and eventually came to one of the open shelters they have along the way, where we would spend the night. We were a group of 16 or so, and there was no way we could all fit in the shelter, so the girls got to sleep in the shelter and the guys would sleep outside. Trying to keep things light, we only packed little lean to shelters to sleep under, rather than tents. Not a big deal, it was good weather and peaceful.

After dinner, we all crashed out and were happily snoozing, until at some point in the wee hours of the morning, I felt something clawing on my head. Not hard clawing like it wanted to take my head off, but more like scrabbling around to dig a hole or something. Naturally I woke up thinking "WTF is going on?" And as soon as I snapped to, I was hit with an unmistakable, pungent odor: SKUNK.

Not knowing what to do, other than not make any sudden movements, I just started chanting "ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod..."
My friend heard me and woke up "Tim, wha-what's going on?" I heard him start to rustle around for his flashlight.
"Don't. Fucking. Move."
"Why, what?"
"There's a skunk. On my head."
"ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod..."
"ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod..."

The skunk proceeded to sniff my head over, and then work its way down the length of my body, until it got to my feet and decided that I wasn't so interesting. It then ambled off to go look for some other food, leaving my friend and me in our own natural bad odors. Interestingly, it was my first and only encounter with a spotted skunk, I didn't even know there was such a thing before then.